Clash of Ninja Revolution 2
By: Eric M. Martin |
Sunday September 28, 2008 |
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Tomy and Triple Point PR invited Static Multimedia to share in some insider talk on the upcoming Naruto title. |
| Producer Nobby Matsuo and Product Specialist Glenn Stotz were guests of a conference call held by the ever-charming Rannie Yoo of Triple Point PR for Tomy’s up and coming release of the Wii exclusive, Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2. While I was not able to attend the conference call, I’m glad that I was able to take an audial gander at what went on over the lines. Finally, it seems that the North American fans of Naruto will be getting some hearty takes on some original content derived around the mysterious and oft overlooked ANBU. Clash of Ninja Revolution 2’s storyline is now detached from the Naruto series and has ventured off into its own schemings. It deals a lot with the ANBU, who take care of all of the “special ops” in the Naruto world. Since there was tons of reference material, Nobby thought that it might be a great idea to bring this organization into the forefront for this particular title. “We talked with a lot of the licensers, and they thought it was a really cool idea, so we decided to go in that direction. Since we’re along the lines of the ANBU and sticking to the ANBU theme, we’ve gone ahead and created some original characters for the ANBU. Since we have an original storyline, and there’s so little covered in the TV storyline, we found that to have some opportunity to create some original characters. We went back to the licenser and discussed with him about creating original characters that are in line with the Naruto universe, but at the same time make it our own.” As an addition to the ANBU, the collective minds of both Tomy developers and Shueisha Inc. licensers have created two original characters: Towa and Komachi. Both characters are equipped almost identically and their masks are original, but it was still based off of the source material. The big issue is the fact that they look similar, especially in the screenshots. In order to differentiate them, the decision was made to create incredibly divergent playing styles. Toa is a more hand-to-hand combat fighter while Komachi uses ranged weapon techniques through the manipulation of dagger hairpins. Nothing was revealed about Komachi’s jutsu specialty, but we know that Towa’s jutsu involves infusing tattoos with chakra energy in order to create chakra-based weapons.  Currently, Shueisha and Viz Media have the option to add these characters into the manga or TV series if they choose, but there is no indication as to whether or not this will become part of the Naruto canon. However, Nobby has made it clear that if they want to use them, he would be totally stoked. Either way, Clash of Ninja Revolution 2’s focus on the ANBU is an effort to give something to the North American followers, as Glenn Stotz comments. “A lot of the Naruto licensed-based stuff comes straight out of Japan and is, culturally, very Japanese. While we wanted to maintain that, we wanted to give something really fresh to the North American audience. ANBU is really cool to us, and a lot of the black ops stuff seems very popular in North America, it’s not exactly the focal point in Japan. We were able to focus on something that we think the North American fans of Naruto may not have had very much exposure to otherwise.” Aside from the basic Story Mode, a couple of other modes have been officially announced. There is now a Tag-Team Mode, where a player can select two characters and switch between them during a battle. Aside from other obvious benefits, there will be the option of Team Attacks. In order to add some flair, there are characters that have specific tie-ins when it comes to their attacks. In other words, picking certain combinations will yield specific results under the proper conditions. However, each character also has a generic move in order to make them compatible with any fighters that you choose. Survival Mode boasts the ability to fight up to five opponents at once. Mission Mode will give each player ten different tasks to accomplish during a bout. Depending on your adherence to that checklist, your fighter will be rated accordingly. The most intriguing element seems to be the addition of Paper Bombs. Finally, fighting fans have a way to prevent the ever-aggravating turtle player. Although they use a lot of chakra, the Paper Bomb will allow you to break a player’s guard and perhaps open up a tactical advantage. However, they are not a one-trick pony. Your stance leaves you vulnerable, it takes a lot of chakra, placement is valuable, and there’s always a chance that your attack will be unsuccessful. It is simply a matter of using another technique in order to create and improve your own technical style of fighting. Up until now, many Naruto watchers have been bottlenecking the leak posts like hamsters at a water feeder. As the release date draws closer, more and more official announcements will be emerging, hopefully slating the thirst of the fanboy masses. For now, feel free to scope out the screenshots and trailers encased within. Once again, a big thank you to Triple Point and Tomy for their continued invitations of conference call coverage. Keep your Wii remotes primed and ready for the release of Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2. |
